Wand Making will be one of several crafts available at the midnight book release party for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” on Saturday, July 30, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington. Sarah Pompeiispompeii@herald-leader.com

Wand Making will be one of several crafts available at the midnight book release party for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” on Saturday, July 30, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington. Sarah Pompeiispompeii@herald-leader.com

Lexington bookstores to host midnight release parties for new Harry Potter book

“Harry Potter” fans have waited nine years in a world without new adventures for Harry, Ron and Hermione.

But that will change on Saturday night when the clock ticks past midnight into Sunday, as fans will be welcomed back into the wizard’s magical world.

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”is a new London-based play by Jack Thorne and an original story by Thorne, John Tiffany and J.K. Rowling. It comes as the eighth story in the series and the first to be presented on stage. The book will be released for sale at midnight Saturday night.

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Burchett said the store will offer wand crafting, trivia, a meet-and-greet with Albus Dumbledore, and the opportunity for people to be sorted into Hogwarts houses.

“Although I imagine most people already know,” he said.

Burchett said Joseph-Beth has been planning the event for two months and anticipates a crowd, because the store has received “a ton” of pre-orders.

Members of the Lexington chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance, Lexpecto Patronum, will also be at Joseph-Beth making bookmarks inspired by the upcoming cinematic release of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” according to Sarabeth Brownrobie, Headmaster of Lexpecto Patronum.

Brownrobie said she’s looking to recruit more people into Lexpecto Patronum and hopes the resurgence of all things Harry Potter will help with that.

Jami Davis, store manager of the Hamburg Pavilion Barnes & Noble, said his store will offer wand making, face painting, the separating of people into houses and showings of Harry Potter movies.

Barnes & Noble will also hold a raffle for seven prints of book covers of the seven books in the series.

“The Cursed Child” is different in format from previous books, in that it’s not entirely a book but rather a novelized script of the play.

As International Business Times notes, the release of “The Cursed Child” is the special rehearsal edition script, meaning it might not match up exactly with what’s on stage in London. (The final script will be available, but there’s no set publication date for that yet.)

CNBC reported that “The Cursed Child” is the top pre-order for both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.